Avian Influenza Surveillance

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The USGS National Wildlife Health Center (NWHC) serves on the U.S. Interagency Steering Committee for Surveillance for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Wild Birds to standardize surveillance for this disease and is a leading partner in conducting morbidity and mortality investigations in support of the Interagency Strategic Plan for Early Detection and Monitoring for Avian Influenzas of Significance in Wild Birds. The NWHC also serves as an affiliate member of the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN) to standardize diagnostic testing for this disease and collaborates with the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Veterinary Services Laboratory on diagnostic testing of samples collected from wild birds for avian influenza surveillance.

The NWHC conducts surveillance to facilitate early detection for high consequence pathogens such as highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses. In December 2014, the NWHC detected HPAI viruses with of Asian origin in wild waterfowl. By the end of 2015 HPAI had resulted in the death and culling of over 50 million poultry, resulting in economy-wide losses of over $3 billion.

Avian influenza among wild waterfowl is a concern among resource managers and owners of domestic fowl. The scientists take a sample to process at the lab. (Credit: Erika Sanchez-Chopitea, U.S. Geological Survey, Western Ecological Research Center. Public domain)

In addition to conducting ongoing investigations of unusual wildlife mortality events since the 1970s, the NWHC also conducts ongoing work to understand processes and environmental factors that influence spread, distribution, and mechanisms of transfer of HPAI in wild birds and poultry. For example, in 2016, the NWHC, as an affiliate member of the NAHLN, tested over 700 wild-bird carcasses and over 7,000 swab samples from healthy wild birds for presence of avian influenza viruses. While HPAI was not detected in any of these samples, over 1,300 low pathogenicity avian influenza viruses were identified, providing critical information to wildlife and agricultural officials on the spatial distribution and strains of avian influenza viruses circulating in our nation’s wildlife. The surveillance activities conducted by the NWHC provides needed information on which avian influenza strains are circulating in the U.S. to provide situational awareness and early warning for the need for increased biosecurity at poultry facilities to prevent spillover of viruses between domestic and wild birds.

In 2017 and 2018, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. Geological Survey, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and state agencies conducted surveillance efforts including sampling and testing over 30,000 ducks across the U.S. for avian influenza viruses and detected no highly pathogenic strains. This effort included 7,713 samples from the Atlantic Flyway states. The Canadian Wildlife Health Cooperative has also been performing HPAI surveillance with no HPAI virus detections in 2017. Surveillance efforts for HPAI virus in wild birds are ongoing and continue to remain a priority at the USGS National Wildlife Health Center.

More Information on Avian Influenza

Avian influenza is a viral disease caused by various strains of avian influenza viruses that can be classified as low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). It remains a global disease with potential high consequence with the potential to threaten wildlife, agriculture, and human health. Check out the main Avian Influenza page to learn more.

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Avian influenza is a viral disease caused by various strains of avian influenza viruses that can be classified as low pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI) or highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI). It remains a global disease with potential high consequence with the potential to threaten wildlife, agriculture, and human health.

IntroductionThrough the Science Strategy for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Wildlife and the Environment, the USGS will assess avian influenza (AI) dynamics in an ecological context to inform decisions made by resource managers and policymakers from the local to national level. Through collection of unbiased scientific information on...

Western Alaska is a potential point-of-entry for foreign-origin influenza A viruses (IAVs) into North America via migratory birds. We sampled waterfowl and gulls for IAVs at Izembek National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in western Alaska, USA, during late summer and autumn months of 2011–2015, to evaluate the abundance and diversity of viruses at this...

IntroductionThrough the Science Strategy for Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) in Wildlife and the Environment, the USGS will assess avian influenza (AI) dynamics in an ecological context to inform decisions made by resource managers and policymakers from the local to national level. Through collection of unbiased scientific information on...

A novel highly pathogenic avian influenza virus belonging to the H5 clade 2.3.4.4 variant viruses was detected in North America in late 2014. Motivated by the identification of these viruses in domestic poultry in Canada, an intensive study was initiated to conduct highly pathogenic avian influenza surveillance in wild birds in the Pacific Flyway...

In 2014, Clade 2.3.4.4 H5N8 highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) viruses spread across the Republic of Korea and ultimately were reported in China, Japan, Russia and Europe. Mortality associated with a reassortant HPAI H5N2 virus was detected in poultry farms in Western Canada at the end of November. The same strain (with identical genetic...

In 2015, a major outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza virus (HPAIV) infection devastated poultry facilities in Minnesota, USA. To clarify the role of wild birds, we tested 3,139 waterfowl fecal samples and 104 sick and dead birds during March 9–June 4, 2015. HPAIV was isolated from a Cooper’s hawk but not from waterfowl.

Wild waterfowl are primary reservoirs of avian influenza viruses (AIV). However the role of sea ducks in the ecology of avian influenza, and how that role differs from freshwater ducks, has not been examined. We obtained and analyzed sera from North Atlantic sea ducks and determined the seroprevalence in those populations. We also tested swab...

It is unknown how the current Asian origin highly pathogenic avian influenza H5 viruses arrived, but these viruses are now poised to become endemic in North America. Wild birds harbor these viruses and have dispersed them at regional scales. What is unclear is how the viruses may be moving from the wild bird reservoir into poultry holdings. Active...

Since the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in the eastern hemisphere, numerous surveillance programs and studies have been undertaken to detect the occurrence, distribution, or spread of avian influenza viruses (AIV) in wild bird populations worldwide. To identify demographic determinants and spatiotemporal patterns of AIV...

The movement of highly pathogenic avian influenza (H5N8) virus across Eurasia and into North America and the virus’ propensity to reassort with co-circulating low pathogenicity viruses raise concerns among poultry producers, wildlife biologists, aviculturists, and public health personnel worldwide. Surveillance, modeling, and experimental...

Wild water birds are the natural reservoir for low-pathogenic avian influenza viruses (AIV). However, our ability to investigate the epizootiology of AIV in these migratory populations is challenging, and despite intensive worldwide surveillance, remains poorly understood. We conducted a cross-sectional, retrospective analysis in Pacific Flyway...

The ongoing human H7N9 influenza infections highlight the threat of emerging avian influenza viruses. In 2011, an avian H3N8 influenza virus isolated from moribund New England harbour seals was shown to have naturally acquired mutations known to increase the transmissibility of highly pathogenic H5N1 influenza viruses. To elucidate the potential...

Some avian influenza, or bird flu, viruses that are able to enter North America from other continents through migrating birds can be deadly to poultry and can infect waterfowl populations, according to a recently published U.S. Geological Survey study.

Ducks in North America can be carriers of avian influenza viruses similar to those found in a 2016 outbreak in Indiana that led to the losses of hundreds of thousands of chickens and turkeys, according to a recent study.

Northern sea otters living off the coast of Washington state were infected with the same H1N1 flu virus that caused the world-wide pandemic in 2009, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study.

Waterfowl in California can spread low pathogenic avian influenza viruses during summertime when wetland temperatures are warm and waterfowl densities are low, according to a recent U.S. Geological Survey study.

Avian influenza (AI) is caused by an influenza type A virus that can infect poultry such as chickens, turkeys, pheasants, quail, domestic ducks, geese, and guinea fowl. It is carried by wild waterfowl (ducks and geese) and shorebirds. Learn more at the USGS Avian Influenza website .

To learn more about the impacts of avian influenza on wild birds and the role wild birds may play in the spread of the virus, experts from government agencies have gathered samples from hundreds of thousands of live-captured, apparently healthy wild birds, hunter-harvested birds, and dead wild birds of all species. Testing methods include analyses...

State and federal government experts continue to evaluate how Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) viruses can spread and impact wild and domestic birds. The global spread of HPAI subtype H5N8 has been driven in large part by migratory waterfowl. Knowledge about migratory patterns and intercontinental associations of waterfowl, as well as...

While rare, human infections with avian influenza viruses have occurred. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers the risk to the general public from HPAI H5 infections in wild birds, backyard flocks, and commercial poultry, to be low. To date, no humans or other mammals have shown signs of disease from the HPAI viruses found in...

Although it is possible for domestic poultry to become infected with avian influenza from direct contact with wild birds, it is more likely that avian influenza viruses are spread indirectly to poultry on contaminated feed, clothing, and equipment. Agricultural agencies encourage producers to prevent wild birds and other wildlife from coming into...

Avian Influenza (AI) type A viruses are divided into subtypes based on two proteins on the surface of the virus: Hemagglutinin (HA), of which there are 16 subtypes (H1-H16) Neuraminidase (NA), of which there are 9 subtypes (N1-N9) Many combinations of HA and NA proteins are possible (i.e., H5N1, H5N2, H7N2, H7N8, etc). AI viruses are also...

The designation of low or highly pathogenic avian influenza refers to the potential for these viruses to kill chickens. The designation of “low pathogenic” or “highly pathogenic” does not refer to how infectious the viruses may be to humans, other mammals, or other species of birds. Most strains of avian influenza are not highly pathogenic and...

Avian influenza (AI) viruses are classified by a combination of two groups of proteins: hemagglutinin or “H” proteins, of which there are 16 (H1 to H16), and neuraminidase or “N” proteins, of which there are nine (N1 to N9). Many different combinations of “H” and “N” proteins are possible. Each combination is considered a different subtype and can...